MANILA, June 3, 2016— The Vatican has spoken with regards to the alleged Marian “apparitions” in Batangas and says no.

“The case is closed,” said Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Asked for his reaction after the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog reached the conclusion that there was no miracle in the 1948 apparition, the archbishop responded: “We all obey. We always obey the Holy See.”

“Her being the mother of Jesus is our first and constant reason for honoring her,” he said. “We do not need apparitions to honor the Blessed Virgin.”

The decree issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has overruled the declaration made by Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles last year that the phenomenon is “worthy of belief.”

It also asserted Pope Pius XII’s “definitive” decision in 1951 that evidence and testimonies exclude any “supernatural” intervention on the phenomenon including the showers of petals at the Carmel monastery in Lipa.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith repeats its instruction that any and all commissions studying the question of the alleged supernatural phenomenon of the apparitions in the Carmel of Lipa be immediately disbanded,” the decree adds.

Arguelles himself revealed the decree in a “communiqué” released to the public on May 31.

The archbishop said the Vatican decree was issued in December 2015 and a copy was only handed to him on May 28 this year.

“My hope and prayer is that, this document notwithstanding, we will never doubt the love of God and the Blessed Mother for all of us,” Arguelles said.

He also hoped that “zealous (Marian) devotees from the entire world remain steadfast and determined to bring hope and blessings to many in this troubled world.” (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)